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[[Image:Lord Gort and Lieutenant General Pownall.jpg|thumb|150px|[[John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort|Lord Gort]] (left) and Lieutenant-General [[Henry Royds Pownall|Pownall]] study a map at GHQ in France, 26 November 1939.]] |
[[Image:Lord Gort and Lieutenant General Pownall.jpg|thumb|150px|[[John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort|Lord Gort]] (left) and Lieutenant-General [[Henry Royds Pownall|Pownall]] study a map at GHQ in France, 26 November 1939.]] |
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The '''Pillbox affair''', also known as the '''Pillbox incident''' was a military and political episode which occurred in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] between November and December 1939. The British [[Secretary of State for War|War Minister]], [[Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha|Leslie Hore-Belisha]], visited [[France]] and the positions of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] in mid-November. <ref>Brian Bond, 'Gort: Field Marshal Lord Gort', in John Keegan (eds.) ''Churchill's Generals'', p. 40</ref> Hore-Belisha and the commander of the BEF, [[Field Marshal]] [[John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort]], did not get along well together; Gort disliked Hore-Belisha for his |
The '''Pillbox affair''', also known as the '''Pillbox incident''' was a military and political episode which occurred in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] between November and December 1939. The British [[Secretary of State for War|War Minister]], [[Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha|Leslie Hore-Belisha]], visited [[France]] and the positions of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] in mid-November. <ref>Brian Bond, 'Gort: Field Marshal Lord Gort', in John Keegan (eds.) ''Churchill's Generals'', p. 40</ref> Hore-Belisha and the commander of the BEF, [[Field Marshal]] [[John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort]], did not get along well together; Gort disliked Hore-Belisha for his colorful personality and unorthodox manner of conducting matters relating to the Army, and the Minister rapidly came to recognize this.<ref>Bond, p. 40</ref> When Hore-Belisha visited the BEF in November, he oversaw the placement of the troops of the BEF, but not the defenses being constructed, and as such when he returned to Britain he complained to the War Cabinet and the Army Council that too few [[British hardened field defences of World War II |pillbox defences]] were being built for the BEF.<ref>Bond, p. 41</ref> Gort and colleagues friendly to him were greatly angered by what they saw as this unjust and ill-founded criticism, and began a campaign against Hore-Belisha, which culminated in January 1940 in his being dismissed from the post of War Minister.<ref>Bond, p. 41</ref> |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
Revision as of 15:12, 1 October 2010
The Pillbox affair, also known as the Pillbox incident was a military and political episode which occurred in Britain between November and December 1939. The British War Minister, Leslie Hore-Belisha, visited France and the positions of the British Expeditionary Force in mid-November. [1] Hore-Belisha and the commander of the BEF, Field Marshal John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, did not get along well together; Gort disliked Hore-Belisha for his colorful personality and unorthodox manner of conducting matters relating to the Army, and the Minister rapidly came to recognize this.[2] When Hore-Belisha visited the BEF in November, he oversaw the placement of the troops of the BEF, but not the defenses being constructed, and as such when he returned to Britain he complained to the War Cabinet and the Army Council that too few pillbox defences were being built for the BEF.[3] Gort and colleagues friendly to him were greatly angered by what they saw as this unjust and ill-founded criticism, and began a campaign against Hore-Belisha, which culminated in January 1940 in his being dismissed from the post of War Minister.[4]
Notes
General references
- Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Lord (2001). War Diaries 1939–1945. Phoenix Press. ISBN 1-84212-526-5.
- Keegan, John (eds.) (1991). Churchill's Generals. Abacus History. ISBN 0349113173.
{{cite book}}
:|first=
has generic name (help) - Colville, J R (1972). Man of Valour: The Life of Field-marshal the Viscount Gort VC. Collins, London. ISBN 0-00-211290-6.